Modem Futura

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The AI Sustainability Paradox - Promise, Peril, and Planetary Futures – Episode 58

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AI, Sustainability, and the Planet Under Pressure: Can Technology Help Us Navigate the Future?

In this week’s episode of Modem Futura, Andrew and I take on one of the most urgent and complex questions of our time:Can artificial intelligence meaningfully help humanity navigate planetary crises — without deepening them?

Our jumping-off point is the newly released 2025 synthesis report AI for a Planet Under Pressure, produced by the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. The report asks a deceptively simple but high-stakes question: Can AI be used responsibly and effectively to address climate change, biodiversity loss, freshwater stress, and other accelerating environmental pressures?

It’s the kind of question that seems tailor-made for futures thinking — a toolset we rely on heavily throughout the show. Because as we discuss, we’re not just talking about one technology or one problem. We’re talking about wicked problems: challenges that mutate as we try to solve them. Climate change, plastics pollution, ecosystem collapse, global energy transitions — these are dynamic, interconnected systems that resist silver-bullet solutions.

AI shows real promise. We now have models that can detect complex patterns in climate systems, accelerate protein discovery, optimize renewable-energy grids, and reveal future pathways humans simply cannot see on their own. These are powerful breakthroughs — and the report highlights dozens of examples where AI is already pushing sustainability science forward in meaningful ways.

But as we explore in the episode, this promise raises a difficult paradox:
AI requires enormous amounts of water, energy, and material resources. Data centers heat cities, strain local water supplies, and demand extractive mineral supply chains. Are we burning fossil fuels to solve the fossil-fuel crisis? And what does it mean when our sustainability solutions come with unsustainable footprints?

We also dig into the human side: the behaviors, incentives, and limitations that so often undermine long-term environmental action. Could AI help foster better cooperation? Could it assist governments, regions, and communities in seeing shared pathways forward that remain invisible today? Or does outsourcing too much responsibility risk numbing the very agency we need most?

These aren’t easy questions — but they’re necessary ones. And as Andrew points out, failing to have these conversations guarantees that someone else (or something else) will make those decisions for us.

If you’re curious about the intersection of AI, planetary futures, and the human condition, this is a conversation worth spending time with.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here 👇

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura wherever you get your podcasts and connect with us on LinkedIn. Drop a comment, pose a question, or challenge an idea—because the future isn’t something we watch happen, it’s something we build together. The medium may still be the massage, but we all have a hand in shaping how it touches tomorrow.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/43Y4Wwn

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/195UbUOIUv8oF587yNo1FM?si=d6d7cd6b05034703

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/O8gGpJZO-g4

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

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Through the lens: Spatial Computing with Apple Vision Pro – Episode 56

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Just a couple of guys wearing nerd helmets and talking about the future of tech.

Inside Spatial Computing: Living (and Working) with Apple Vision Pro

e finally did it — we recorded inside Apple Vision Pro.

In this new episode of Modem Futura, Andrew Maynard and I decided to take spatial computing off the keynote stage and into real life — from multi-monitor workflows and long-haul flights to immersive video, panoramic memories, and even telepresence “personas.” We wanted to know: is this the start of a new computing era, or simply a beautiful distraction in search of a use case?

What we discovered surprised us.

Apple’s Vision Pro doesn’t want to be “VR.” It’s spatial — a computer that understands the world around you. Through pass-through video, eye-tracking, and hand-gesture control, it creates a workspace that’s not just 3D but responsive to you. One look or small pinch replaces the keyboard and mouse. It’s impressive, sometimes uncanny, and often quietly magical.

But behind the magic are deep questions about comfort, value, and human need. The headset’s design reveals how far we’ve come in rendering, latency, and foveated focus — and how far we still are from true wear-all-day computing. The device itself sparks larger conversations: What does “presence” mean when you can blank out reality at will? How will social norms adapt when everyone’s wearing cameras? And where does accessibility fit in when interaction becomes multimodal — eyes, hands, voice, and environment all working together?

Want to see what we've been up to? Here you can see a collection of Spatial videos of our podcast - these were all recorded using a 3-camera multicam setup each filming in Spatial video formats.

One of the biggest challenges at the present for spatial video (a deep dive for later) is that in addition to few people having headsets as compared to smartphones for example, most video platform services do not provide a way to consume Spatial video - including Apple's own Vision OS of all things. Yes you can send a video file (these are massive btw - in the order of 9-20GB each) - but at present there isn't an Apple supported cloud based video viewer to which you can watch Spatial videos posted by your friends and family etc. Personally, I really hope that YouTube will start to allow the playback of Spatial videos (assuming they will put an officially supported YouTube app on the Apple Vision Pro of course).

We also talk about what comes after the headset. Think of a layered ecosystem:

  • Audio AR through your earbuds for subtle ambient context.

  • Lightweight AR glasses for glanceable, social interaction.

  • Full headsets for immersive creativity, co-presence, and exploration.

Rather than a single “device to rule them all,” spatial computing might evolve into a stack of experiences that adapt to how human attention, comfort, and curiosity really work.

It’s easy to be dazzled by tech specs, but the future of spatial computing depends less on what’s rendered and more on what it means to be present in digital space. That’s why we’re inviting developers, designers, and curious explorers to join us — to prototype, play, and imagine what spatial experiences could look like when they’re built for humans first.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura wherever you get your podcasts and connect with us on LinkedIn. Drop a comment, pose a question, or challenge an idea—because the future isn’t something we watch happen, it’s something we build together. The medium may still be the massage, but we all have a hand in shaping how it touches tomorrow.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/47Arkwv

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3V40dbWcrKZq9RCCmoP7Zh?si=s0CVT5aQS8WJ_CgbfMTBcg

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/IF3juEp9l_I

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

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Sora, Slop, and the AI Economy: When ChatGPT Meets Walmart – Episode 54

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Image illustrated adaptation by ChatGPT

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when the world’s largest retailer merges with the world’s most talked-about AI, you’re not alone. In our newest episode of Modem Futura, Andrew Maynard and I explore how OpenAI’s latest moves—from Sora 2’s eerily lifelike videos to Walmart’s direct-to-ChatGPT shopping partnership—signal a seismic shift in how we live, learn, and buy in a post-search world.

Andrew also just returned from Lisbon for the global launch of his new book AI and the Art of Being Human, a deeply personal and practical guide to thriving with AI while staying grounded in what makes us human. Together we discuss the book’s central question: how can we build a meaningful life amid tools that increasingly think, speak, and create like us?

We also dive into futurist Amy Webb’s sharp warning that the financial plumbing of the internet is changing fast. As she notes, when an AI company built on venture debt begins replacing Google’s ad-based model, we risk building the next era of commerce on borrowed money—and borrowed trust.

From there, the episode ranges widely: we unpack the ethics of open-source AI groups like Nous Research, debate what “guardrails” really mean, and share our growing fatigue with synthetic content—the endless churn of what the internet now calls “AI-slop.”

But it’s not all doomscrolling. We end with a new round of Futures Improv—our playful segment imagining speculative scenarios like subscription-based immortality and AI DJs reading your neural signals. It’s improv, futures-style: serious ideas approached with humor and imagination.

Whether you’re an AI enthusiast, a creative technologist, or simply trying to stay human in a rapidly transforming world, this episode captures the heart of Modem Futura: thoughtful conversations that remind us the future isn’t just something that happens to us—it’s something we co-create, signal by signal.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/48C8PtS

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/38IopMk5XBA9xVsKU71UlM?si=wdAtLLaaQxGvNEjPVfqWTQ

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/aK-ev5T8Tu8

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

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We Turned One - plus Liquid Media, Work Slop, and the Road Ahead – Episode 53

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Year One, Human First: How We’re Building a Relational Future Podcast

When ChatGPT thinks you run a podcast gameshow - this is how it draws you ;)

Fifty‑two straight weeks, many guests, and countless “aha” moments later, Modem Futura just turned one. Instead of a victory lap, we used this episode to do what we always do: invite you into the studio while we make sense of the future—together.

From day one we set out to be relational rather than transactional. That means no polished lectures and no sugar‑coated takes. It means showing our work, making space for genuine curiosity, and trusting that a community grows when people feel like they’ve pulled up a chair at the table. Over the past year, that approach has taken us everywhere—from AI and AGI to bio‑hybrid robots, simulation hypotheses, autonomous mobility (including a Waymo ride‑along), space futures, and media theory, just to scratch the top of the list. Listeners have told us they’re using episodes to kick off team discussions, and yes, we’re even astronaut approved! (Thanks Cady). That’s rocket fuel!

This anniversary episode isn’t just about reflections we also look ahead. We probe “liquid media”—from tools like NotebookLM to Huxe’s 24/7 AI‑generated radio—and ask where convenience ends and exhaustion begins. We talk about “work slop,” the plausible‑sounding but soulless output AI can slip into workflows, and the hidden cognitive tax leaders pay to verify it. And to keep futures thinking playful, we run a “Futures Improv” lightning round: AI pets smarter than real ones? Brain‑to‑brain headbands at work? Meditation‑mandated robotaxis? Jurassic Park on the Moon? The point isn’t to predict perfectly—it’s to stretch how we think so we can exercise our radical creativity. (Maybe this should become a reoccurring segment? - I’ll need to craft up a quick theme song I think… )

What’s on the calendar for next year? Expect deeper dives into human‑centered AI, experiments with spatial and wearable interfaces (Vision Pro, Meta’s glasses), and conversations that foreground care—for people, institutions, and futures worth having. And as Andrew’s new book AI and the Art of Being Human lands, we’ll keep exploring how technology can amplify, not erode, what makes us…us.

Join us:

  • Listen to the anniversary episode and subscribe on your favorite app

  • Comment with one idea we should explore next—or what we should put in the “empty chair” on non‑guest weeks

  • If the show sparked a conversation where you work, tell us how. We’ll highlight examples in a future episode.

If you believe better futures are built through candid, caring conversation, you’re in the right place.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/48oB1QS

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1H29Q1LnP8oL7LER1gS6wa?si=5j97IKzGSjGJFlZSQMS-hg

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/FX0DmYgIe0w

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

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Futures Thinking: Foresight You Can Use – Episode 49

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We don’t predict the future, but we prepared for the uncertainties the futures will bring

Ever been stuck in traffic and thought, “Where’s my eVTOL button?” We open this episode right there—and quickly flip the fantasy into a lesson on systems: technologies don’t fix congestion (or most complex problems) unless policy, behavior, equity, and infrastructure evolve with them. From that launchpad, Sean Leahy and Dr. Andrew Maynard unpack futures thinking as a mindset—distinct from prediction—that helps people and organizations navigate uncertainty with agency. They walk through the classic triad of possible, probable, and preferable futures, then translate it into practice: horizon scanning (signals, trends, megatrends), scenario building, and backcasting from a desired 10‑year outcome to concrete actions today. Along the way, they surface guardrails like avoiding “used futures” (inherited visions of someone else’s desired future) and stress‑testing for unintended consequences, especially for vulnerable communities and the planet.

The conversation ranges widely—think SimCity lessons and Mars‑city thought experiments as mirrors for Earth’s complexity; protopian (step‑by‑step better) versus utopian/dystopian frames; and why foresight shouldn’t be a bolt‑on consultancy only, but a capacity embedded across teams. Educators will appreciate a practical take on bringing futures thinking into K–12 and higher ed without “one more thing”: weave foresight into existing subjects to build creativity, inquiry, and resilience. Pop culture helps, too—using films (à la The Moviegoer’s Guide to the Future) creates a low‑stakes, high‑insight space to explore tough issues together. And for those tracking AI’s breakneck pace, the episode doubles as an antidote to future shock—a way to slow down, widen perspective, and choose well‑considered next steps.

Why it matters: Futures Thinking is for everyone - all humans poses the qualities needed to engage in thinking about our collective futures. Whether you lead a product team, a classroom, or a community, cultivating a futures mindset helps you spot weak signals earlier, align around preferable outcomes, and take action that nudges the world toward human flourishing.

Join the conversation:

What “used future” have you noticed in your field? If you were backcasting from a 2035 future you’d be proud of, what’s the first move you’d make this quarter? Drop your thoughts—and feel free to borrow this episode in your class, team meeting, or strategy offsite.

🎧 Listen to the full episode to dive deeper into how films shape our futures: https://apple.co/4nrAIci

📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura

🎬 What film has changed the way you think about the future? Drop a comment — we’d love to hear.

If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/4nrAIci

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1OmUyc6fYdMIZ8thORheOJ?si=ZTQ-ZI7hQzSjNTy3jhjgfQ

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/85cTuht_a8k

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

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AI, Not AI: Riding the Hype Cycle – Episode 45

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Agents at the Peak, Humans in the Loop: Navigating the AI Hype Cycle

Every week brings another “breakthrough” headline—agent modes, study modes, version bumps—and it’s getting harder to tell hype from progress. In this new Modem Futura episode, we take a candid, summer‑mode breather to map where AI really sits on the Gartner Hype Cycle, what open‑weight releases mean for builders, and how to keep the human voice intact when co‑authoring with machines. (Yes, we tried not to talk about AI…and failed—because it’s interwoven into every aspect of human activity now.)

What open weights really unlock

Setting aside the current drama around GPT-5, recent open‑weight releases under permissive licenses are a quiet game‑changer. OpenAI has released a pair of open‑weight models (120B & 20B) under Apache‑2.0 license that you can download from Huggingface. Translation: you can download models, run them locally, and adapt them for your own needs—no cloud required (except o download). With capable personal computers (think Apple’s M‑series) or home-built rigs GneAI LLMs can be run locally on device, and as hardware capacity increases and the sophistication of the models improves, the barrier to entry keeps dropping. The reason this matters is that it enables “garage‑scale” innovation—students, labs, startups, and curious tinkerers can now build for their own unique (or weird), local needs rather than waiting for a platform update.

Writing with AI—and protecting the voice

We also dig into human‑AI co‑authoring. Andrew shares a writer’s perspective—AI can draft moving, polished prose, but a subtle sameness creeps in. The fix isn’t anti‑AI; it’s pro‑craft: re‑introduce your “tells,” rhythm, and variance so readers feel a human mind at work. Think editorial sculpture—chipping away until the voice has texture and life. When even an AI editor flags your draft as “too consistent,” it’s a nudge to put the messiness back in. This is what happens when the pendulum swings too far to one side (perfect AI generated prose) the reader craves authenticity and “style” to which we need to introduce our human-touch back into the machine.

So…where are we on the Hype Cycle?
Whether you’re looking to learn how to interpret this powerful model (tool) or just get some new band name ideas, we explain the curve (innovation trigger → peak of inflated expectations → trough of disillusionment → slope of enlightenment → plateau of productivity) and why agentic AI feels perched at the peak, while day‑to‑day generative AIis edging into the trough—not because it’s useless, but because the shine (over hyped exaggerated claims of impact) wears off and the real work begins (just look at the backlash from GPT-5). Layer in the diffusion‑of‑innovation model and you’ll see different communities (VCs, educators, enterprises) living on different parts of the curve at the same time.

Image source: pasqal.com

Image source: Gartner

Beyond screens: ambient intelligence

We explore the exciting space of spatial/ambient computing and sensing (I even got to briefly mention LANs, WANs, and PANs)—environments saturated with signals (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, NFC) that AIs can interpret in ways we can’t. It raises the question of what happens when machines can interpret the data‑saturated world beyond our comprehension and act within it? That’s where “AI‑not‑AI” lives: less chatbot magic, more embedded intelligence shaping everyday environments. That’s both exciting and unsettling: it demands new conversations about design, privacy, agency, and the futures we actually want to build.


If it resonates, help broaden the conversation: subscribe, share with a colleague, and tell us where you place AI on the Hype Cycle—and where you’re craving more human messiness. As we joked in‑studio, Modem Futura is “on the slope of enlightenment—accepting social investment via ratings and reviews


🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/47mypmb

📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura

If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/47mypmb

🎧 Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ReAdtrV7o8WfxeZ0vaKH9?si=dGnDFD03QiW9A3UiUStEEg

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/cfHqBJKnGZo

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

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Show Me the Receipts: the Futures of AI Super-intelligence – Episode 44

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Superintelligence “In Sight”? Cutting Through Hype to Keep Humans in the Loop

If you’ve felt whiplash from this summer’s AI headlines, you’re not alone. In our latest episode of Modem Futura, we unpack Big Tech’s bolder‑than‑bold claim that “developing superintelligence is now in sight”—and ask for something simple before we all sprint into the future: receipts. We break down what companies are signaling when they talk about AI systems that “improve themselves,” why that sounds momentous, and where the marketing ends and the evidence begins.

First, definitions that matter. Today’s tools remain narrow—powerful, yes, but specialized. AGI is the hypothetical jump to general capability; superintelligence (ASI) is the further leap beyond any human capability. We explore why those terms are often moved like goalposts, and why declaring ASI “near” without a stable definition confuses the public, policymakers, and practitioners alike, and from my perspective is irresponsible.

Then we zoom into a practical pain point: reliability. When platforms silently change models, tools, or defaults, workflows break (hello GPT-5). In education and professional settings, that unpredictability isn’t just irritating—it’s costly. We share real examples (from transcripts labeled with the wrong speakers to model behavior shifting overnight) and discuss what “enterprise‑grade” should mean for LLMs people depend on.

We also play with the upside—digital twins and imaginative design. If a campus has a high‑fidelity digital twin, why stop at mirroring reality? Why not prototype preferable futures—safer, more inclusive, more sustainable spaces—and test them before we build? Of course, reliability matters there too; when operational systems depend on simulations, unintended tweaks can ripple into the real world.

Across the hour, we push back on technological solutionism—the reflex to cast AI as the single answer to complex, “wicked” problems. Yes, we’re excited about AI’s potential; no, it won’t magically resolve conflict, poverty, or disease without broader social, economic, and political work. Framing ASI as our only lifeboat risks narrowing our imaginations right when we need them most.

Ultimately, we return to our favorite question: What does it mean to be human when machines can emulate so much of what we do? For us, that means staying curious and critical, inviting more diverse perspectives into the conversation, and insisting on transparent claims we can evaluate—before ceding agency to systems we don’t fully understand.

If this episode gave you a useful lens on the AI noise, share it with a colleague, drop a comment with the boldest AI claim you’ve heard and the evidence that would convince you, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/41Ayf6J

📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura

If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/41Ayf6J

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0o1vePcG8wh2VmMtETRKjy?si=Fu0xyDEkSHKB-R3gkKKWoQ

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/XO9dLoYhIvY

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

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Summer School with AI: Rethinking Learning in the Age of GPT – Episode 41

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Summer School with AI: Why “Back to Basics” Isn’t Enough

Why this episode matters? If you’re charting strategy for schools, workforce development or lifelong learning, this discussion offers a candid roadmap—and a few provocative questions—for navigating the next decade of educational transformation.

This month on Modem Futura I welcomed Rachna Mathur, Ed.D. —engineer, artist, lifelong-learner and Senior STEM Strategist at ASU Preparatory Academy—to a scorching‑hot Arizona studio for a free‑flowing “summer session” on the future of learning in the age of generative AI.

Our conversation touches on many aspects of learning and AI, but laser in on the implications of living the “digital world” for learning, partially inspired from the headline that shocked many educators: Sweden’s decision to pull back from screens and re‑embrace handwriting and printed books after seeing declines in comprehension and critical‑thinking benchmarks. We explore the move as an important—but incomplete—signal. We arguee that the real challenge is finding a sustainable balance between analog depth and digital acceleration, not retreating wholesale from technology, and not leaning into a pure technological solution just for technologies sake.

The theme of moderation threads the entire episode. We swap Montessori childhood stories—self‑directed, community‑anchored, and surprisingly common among tech leaders—before examining how that philosophy might translate to AI‑rich classrooms where personalization risks isolation if community norms aren’t protected.

We then fast‑forward 50 years to imagine two stark futures: a post‑scarcity Star‑Trek‑style society of flourishing creativity, or the WALL‑E “hover‑chair” dystopia where humans outsource thinking, writing and even curiosity to autonomous agents. In both scenarios, today’s policy and design choices in K‑12 systems carve the path. Should we double‑down on foundational literacies—or teach students how to audit machine output for bias, hallucination and relevance?

We highlight the rising cognitive load on teachers, who are expected to master every “shiny new doodad” while still wearing a dozen other hats. We discuss realistic guardrails: cell‑phone moderation policies; AI readers that empower dyslexic learners; and iterative, living guidelines that evolve alongside the tech itself rather than one‑and‑done declarations.

Finally, we confront the looming content‑collapse problem (the recursive nightmare that may be building right in front of us): models now train on data increasingly generated by other models, a self‑referential “snake eating its own tail” that threatens originality and human perspective. Our shared conclusion? Educators, parents and technologists must collaborate on a middle path that preserves human agency, cultivates critical judgment, and leverages AI as an amplifier—not a crutch.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4o6LwOc

📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura

If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/4o6LwOc

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1E9LMkkOTYvTJVwlb6Ey0F?si=ADMbNGEWSUW-Jdx-h0oBsA

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/cvxHCJxahlg

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/

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Future Vibes: Sean & Andrew’s 2025 Summer Reading List – Episode 38

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Sunshine, iced coffee, and a stack of books bigger than your carry-on: the Modem Futura crew is officially in vacation mode. In this episode, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard trade their usual policy briefs for paperbacks, audiobooks, and a little healthy banter while curating a futurist-friendly “summer reading list.” Why fiction? Because, as Sean argues, big ideas often hide between star-ship battles and dinosaur breakouts, not only in white papers. Andrew adds that speculative worlds give us a safe sandbox to test tomorrow’s ethics—and besides, nothing pairs with sunscreen like a good apocalypse.

The conversation starts with how we read. Sean confesses he’s deep into audiobooks (pro-tip: narrator chemistry matters as much as plot), while Andrew waxes nostalgic about radio dramas and the duo laments that loss of an old art form of pure radio-plays or dramas and the power of sound-only storytelling.

Then come the picks. Sean’s pile skews toward propulsive series that open up worlds of emergent tech and moral quandaries: Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries, Hugh Howey’s silo trilogy (Wool, Shift, Dust), Dennis E. Taylor’s clone-happy We Are Legion (We Are Bob), and John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War. Classics make the cut too: Stanisław Lem’s mind-bending Solaris, Michael Crichton’s bio-engineering cautionary tale Jurassic Park, Douglas Adams’ irreverent Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the heaven-hell hijinks of Pratchett & Gaiman’s Good Omens. Andrew arrives armed with literary wit and social sci-fi: Julie Schumacher’s academic farce Dear Committee Members, John Wyndham’s climate-chaos thriller The Kraken Wakes, Iain M. Banks’ cosmic intrigue in The Algebraist, Kai-Fu Lee & Chen Qiufan’s foresight anthology AI 2041, and a nostalgic return to childhood wonder with Swallows and Amazons and its sequel Swallowdale.

Sean and Andrew dig into why these stories matter now. Themes of sentient automation (Murderbot), post-climate survival (Wool), and multiverse governance (Bobiverse) echo real-world debates on AI alignment, geo-engineering, and planetary stewardship. They unpack adaptation hits and misses—Apple TV+’s Silo nails the bunker vibe; will Amazon’s forthcoming Murderbot capture SecUnit’s dry humor?—and argue that every futurist needs a dose of imaginative empathy before writing the next policy memo or paper.

Grab your earbuds, e-reader, or dog-eared paperback and join the conversation. After listening, hit reply or tag #ModemFutura to share the titles you’ll be packing—because the future is a story we’re all still writing.

Sean's Picks:

Andrew's Picks:

If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.

Subscribe and Connect!

Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.

🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/4kkcvCC

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0cTCZZfLHR1sIYcHsd85bt?si=5adaec8264b74cc1

📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/KnmMw4Nb3dM

🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/